Prom 34: 'Mindful Mix' Prom, VOCES8/Carducci SQ/Gjeilo, 9 Aug 2023

[bluestateprommer]

Wednesday 9 August 2023
22:15
Royal Albert Hall

Ola Gjeilo:
(a) Still (first performance at The Proms)
(b) Serenity (first performance at The Proms)

Radiohead (arr. G. Lawson): 'Pyramid Song' (first performance at The Proms)

Philip Glass: String Quartet No. 3 ('Mishima' – Mishima/Closing; first performance at The Proms)

Roxanna Panufnik: Floral Tribute (BBC co-commission: world premiere)

Caroline Shaw: 'and the swallow' (first performance at The Proms)

Eric Whitacre: 'All Seems Beautiful to Me' (first performance at The Proms)

Ken Burton: 'A Prayer' (first performance at The Proms)

William Byrd: 'Diliges Dominum'

Ola Gjeilo, piano (Proms debut artist)
Carducci String Quartet (Proms debut ensemble)
VOCES8

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ej59hn

https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/proms/bbc-proms-2023/prom-34-mindful-mix-prom/

[french frank]

Late Night Prom, Wednesday 9th August, 22.15:

"This Prom explores the universal, timeless themes of night, stillness and prayer through the lens of composers old and new, from William Byrd to Ola Gjeilo, Eric Whitacre and Caroline Shaw. Leave your troubles at the door and join us for a stress-busting, soul-nourishing treat." [RAH website]

[Bryn]

Looks to me to be a good excuse for an early night.

[Pulcinella]

I'm not quite sure which category (night, stillness, prayer) the Byrd comes under:

Diliges Dominum Deum tuum,
Ex toto corde tuo,
Et in tota anima tua,
Et in tota mente tua:
Diliges proximum tuum,
Sicut te ipsum.


Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart
and with all thy soul
and with all thy mind.
Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself.

I suspect that I'll be in bed too, with this mindful mix helping me drop off.

[Serial_Apologist]

I'm not quite sure which category (night, stillness, prayer) the Byrd comes under:

Diliges Dominum Deum tuum,
Ex toto corde tuo,
Et in tota anima tua,
Et in tota mente tua:
Diliges proximum tuum,
Sicut te ipsum.


Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart
and with all thy soul
and with all thy mind.
Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself.

I suspect that I'll be in bed too, with this mindful mix helping me drop off.

Turning down the volume when you think they may have gone to bed?

[Joseph K]

I love 'Pyramid Song' so might have to check out that at least.

[LeWoiDeWeigate]

Well, I'm in two minds about this Prom given that I was there in the Big Top.

The problem for me was that this was neither fish nor fowl; it wasn't a gig a-la Anna Meredith and it wasn't a concert a la The Sixteen. There is no doubt that there was some exquisite singing from VOCES 8 who really are a stunning vocal group - Caroline Shaw's 'and the swallow' was particularly well done and I know how complex it is having performed it a few times - and the Byrd was true VOCES 8 at their best - but it was incredibly heavily mic-ed and just felt over-produced. The Panufnik was superb - she is a real star-of-our-time.

Ola Gjeilo leaves me cold - frankly, he represents all that is wrong with amateur choral singing today IMvvvvHO - and his pointless piano tinkling was just All Wrong. I'd love to have heard all the Glass string quartet (I love them with a passion) but we got one movement.

So if you took it as 'a concert,' at least for me, it didn't work.

But then add in the atmosphere in the hall with the light show and the audio treatment and it starts to remind me of one of the greatest late-nighters I've been to, Delia Derbyshire and Suzanne Ciani's 'Pioneers of Sound' Prom where there was a similar vibe. And yes, I would (and do!) pay money to go to more unusual places for music but often it is about the time and place and the Proms in the RAH... meh...

Also, being blunt, I think VOCES 8 are better than this - they could have put on an evening of ancient-to-modern choral music, un-miced, un-electroniced and pulled-it-off well. I came away feeling I'd been tempted to a slice of VOCES 8 pie, but someone had given me more pastry than filling...